Elements of Chaos
by Shadowspeed2020
Summary: An ancient evil is awakening,and the Chaos Emeralds aren't enough to stop it.Only seven gems,each containing the power of the seven elements,combined with the chaos emeralds can stop it.Though the elemental gems need one in particular.Mainly OC centred.
1. Typical Day

"_In the time before most human life began, many of the beings of higher intelligence recorded a great apocalypse that could have ended life as we know it before it had begun. A being made entirely of shadows, darkness, doubts, fears and despair known only as the Shadowed One, cast the world into darkness, able to see all and destroy anything with a mere thought." __**Darkness Manuscripts 1:1**_

It was a normal, peaceful day. Eggman had been quiet for a few weeks, and Rouge was using this down time to forcefully drag Shadow to Station Square to mainly window shop, despite the Ultimate Life form's protests and threats.

"Couldn't you have called Amy to come or gone on some treasure hunt with Wave?" Shadow asked, his patience wearing thin as the bat dragged him into another jewellery store.

"But I know how much you enjoy mixing with other people Shadow," Rouge said sarcastically, which caused another annoyed sigh to come from the black hedgehog. She continued to look at the various gems, seeing a few that particularly caught her interest with huge price tags.

"Can I help you?" a shop assistant asked, observing the suspiciously interested bat and agitated black hedgehog.

"We're just browsing. This surely isn't all the jewels you have?" Rouge asked, peaking into the store room the assistant had appeared from.

"We do have a rather interesting jewel that just came in yesterday. Just wait one moment," the assistant said, stepping back into the store room.

"I'm surprised you didn't make some joke about us getting married," Shadow muttered, arms folded in the usual bored way.

"I'd save a joke like that for when I'm with old Knucklehead. Speaking of which, I think I might pay him a visit after I see this gem," Rouge said, hearing Shadow's muttering. As the shop assistant came back in, Rouge turned her attention to the gem.

It was at least the same size as a Chaos Emerald, only it was in the shape of a Master Emerald shard. It was a red/orange colour, and at the heart of the gem there seemed to be what looked like flames dancing around. Rouge stared at the gem with huge eyes that said "This gem is going to be mine by tomorrow".

Before Rouge could even touch the jewel, Shadow swiped it, holding it up to the light. Though Rouge tried to take it from him, he held her back like a kid at a playground, keeping her at bay by pushing against her head.

"How exactly does this jewel have flickering flames inside it?" Shadow asked, stepping to the side causing Rouge to fall forward.

"That's the magic of it. No expert has been able to find the reason," the assistant said. "Now, are you interested in possibly buying the jewel?" he asked, breaking the hedgehog from his thoughts.

"Probably won't find anything else that I'll want to buy," Shadow shrugged, bringing out a credit card that was standard issue for all G.U.N agents.

"Thanks for buying me the jewel," Rouge said once they got outside.

"I didn't buy it _for _you. I bought it to stop you from stealing it. And first it's going to see Tails or Omega," Shadow said, smirking as Rouge fumed off to go and see Knuckles. "Maybe you'll think twice before dragging me out shopping next time," he said to himself as he walked through Station Square to find the train to Mystic Ruins.

_Station Square M/H (Mobian/Human) High School_

"Hey Sky Guy, where's the sky blue shirt?" one panther asked mockingly as a dark blue hedgehog with seven drooping quills, each with a different coloured stripe, longish darker blue hair, pale peach skin, dark blue shirt, blue jeans and black converse walked down the hallway. The hedgehog simply quickened his pace, a small snarl coming from his mouth. His name was Skyfire, and was one of the biggest freaks of the school.

"Hey emohog! Trying to hide something under those gloves and wristbands?" someone called, each word eating away at Skyfire's patience. The dark purple stripe on one of his quills glowed dimly, and Shadow the Hedgehog markings on his arms became visible, also glowing a dim dark purple.

"Hey Fire..." one human started, stopped when Skyfire's hand grabbed his throat, slamming him into a locker. Skyfire had stopped, still looking ahead of him, before closing his eyes.

"Say one more word, and I will snap that puny neck of yours like a twig beneath my foot. Am I...clear?" the hedgehog asked, now giving the boy death glares. His eyes, which were normally sky blue with an orange ring around the pupil, now had a purple ring instead of orange. The boy nodded as best he could before falling to his knees, watching the dark hedgehog walk off.

"At least school's over for the weekend," he muttered to himself, those seven words running through his mind as he made his way to the main doors. A quick flick of his wrist, a strong wind blew the doors open as he walked out, looking around for his friends.

"Hey Sky, over here!" a lavender cat with maroon waist length hair, a pink/red tube top that stopped above her naval, dark purple jeans and plum sneakers called. Skyfire walked over to her, his eyes slowly returning to the natural sky blue/orange combination.

"Hey Cyn," Skyfire said, his voice a little brighter now. It was hard, almost impossible to stay angry around his best friend Cynder, though one person was usually always doom and gloom, and said person just emerged from the school doors.

Like the way the doors had opened for Skyfire, these doors flew open, only they were pushed hard by an echidna's hands. Said echidna was pretty much all black with waist length night black hair that covered almost her entire face, shoulder length dreadlocks, black fur, an almost white muzzle, black tube top like Cynder's, torn ¾ length jeans and black knee high boots.

"She looks like she's going to explode," Cynder whispered to Skyfire as the echidna came over to them, her piercing violet hue eyes the only things visible through her hair.

"Rough day?" Skyfire asked, able to fully predict the answer.

"Yes," the echidna muttered, her voice creepy and dark.

"Hey Miranda, try to cheer up a little. At least we get to go to Mystic Ruins today," Cynder said, taking a few nervous steps back from Miranda's icy glare.

"You two coming? Or are you two just going to go through this again?" Skyfire asked, stepping between the polar opposites. "If we want to catch the train, we need to leave our stuff at home now," he added, getting ready to drag them there if he had to. It wouldn't have been the first time, or the second.

_Fifteen minutes later_

"Anyone need to change before I do?" Cynder asked, Skyfire and Miranda shaking their heads from their respective third of the room. Cynder's segment was perhaps the brightest, decorated with various shades of purple and with a few posters that fit her ever cheerful style. Skyfire's segment was a dark blue with a few posters, most with Linkin Park on them. Miranda's segment was by far the creepiest and right next to Skyfire's. It was mainly black with a few creepy posters on the wall. As always, it was Skyfire who kept the two polar opposites that were Cynder's ever cheerfulness and Miranda's creepiness apart.

"Anything particular planned when we get there?" Miranda asked once they were both in the living room, waiting for Cynder to change.

"Probably nothing much. Maybe just relax a little or blow off some steam," Skyfire replied as Cynder came out, pretty much wearing the same as before.

"We going or just standing here," Cynder asked, already at the door out of the apartment. Skyfire and Miranda followed suit. It was only a five minute walk to the station, and the train would be there five minutes after they arrived.

_Five minutes later, Station Square Station_

As the group of misfits walked up onto the platform, Cynder noticed the ebony, red streaked hedgehog sitting there impatiently. She nudged her friends gently, getting their attention.

"Isn't that Shadow the Hedgehog. He looks like he's waiting for train too," Cynder said.

"What of it," the dark voice of said hedgehog muttered, now right behind the lavender cat.

"What are you going to Mystic Ruins for?" Skyfire asked, seeing the gem in Shadow's hand.

"I was going to see Tails about this," the black hedgehog said, bringing the gem into view.

"Hey, that things got flames flickering in it like Skyfire's eyes when he..." Cynder said, cut off when Miranda's hand clamped over her mouth.

"When you what?" Shadow asked, now taking a good look at the dark blue hedgehog. He noticed the yellow/gold streak glowing, and saw the orange ring in the hedgehog's eyes turn the same colour.

"Any reason you have that ring around your eye glowing yellow?" Shadow asked with a grin that said "you can't hide anything from me".

"What if he doesn't want to tell you?" Miranda said, her voice dripping with venom that made Shadow step back in surprise. He mentally slapped himself for it, but felt awkward under her piercing eyes.

"Miranda let go of my mouth or else," Cynder said, somewhat muffled, before Miranda's fish-net gloved hand moved away.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else," Skyfire said, giving in. "I have elemental powers okay, don't tell anyone or I'll give you a demonstration," he explained, the yellow streak glowing brighter.

"And what's with the glowing streak?" Shadow asked.

"When I feel a certain emotion, a different streak glows. When irritated like I am now, the yellow streak glows," Skyfire said, his voice backing up what he'd said.

"Okay, anything else?" Shadow asked, sensing there was more.

"Fine, Cynder and I have dragon wings folded against our backs," Skyfire added, the red streak now starting to glow.

"Hmm, maybe Tails can study why," Shadow said before a very ticked off Miranda stepped towards him, eyes ablaze like violet fire.

"You are _not_ taking them to any scientist to study. You may be the Ultimate Life form, but I will hand your sorry butt to you any day, got it?" she said, her fang like teeth bared like a vampire ready to bite.

"He's a friend of mine. It's not like I'm taking them to see Eggman," Shadow said, somewhat nervously. "He may get a bit excited, but he'll treat it like it's just a check up," he added, trying to soften the venomous glare.

"If you say so. I've always wanted to know why anyway," Skyfire shrugged. Miranda backed off, still glaring venom at the black hedgehog. Shadow looked at the three of them, an ever cheerful looking cat, a hedgehog much like himself and an echidna who looked like she could face Black Doom with no fear whatsoever.

"The train's here, so shall we get going?" Cynder asked, breaking the three others from their silence. As they boarded the train, none of them noticed the gem's flames burn brighter as it grew closer to Skyfire.

_One hour later. Outside Tails' workshop_

After a rather uneventful train ride and silent walk to the workshop, Shadow knocked Tails' door, feeling Miranda's glare on his back. _"Please tell me Tails will act like I promised he would,"_ Shadow thought to himself, not scared of Skyfire or Cynder's reaction, but more so of their echidna friend.

"Who is it?" the young fox asked, walking towards the door.

"It's me, Shadow, and some...friends," the ebony hedgehog said, feeling Miranda's glare increase strength on him when he said friends.

"Shadow, I didn't expect to see you here. What brings you here?" Tails asked, picking up on the glare Miranda was giving Shadow.

"Two things, one of them possibly getting me killed if you do something wrong," Shadow said, nervousness in his voice.

"Like what?" Tails asked.

"Acting like an over excited kid when you do a bio scan on the hedgehog and cat," Shadow said, pointing over his shoulder at the echidna.

_Ten minutes later. Tails' lab_

"This is incredible! Your dragon wings seem to be an inherit trait from your parents, namely your mother's side," Tails said, going over results from Skyfire and Cynder's bio-scan.

"Our moms didn't have dragon wings, how come we do?" Cynder asked.

"It seems that everyone born on your mother's side of the family had a rare genetic mutation, somehow infected with dragon genes. This occasionally gave someone in your family dragon traits, and you two have dragon wings," Tails explained.

"Well Cynder and I aren't related. How come we both have this mutation?" Skyfire asked.

"Correction, you're both so distantly related that it was by incredible coincidence you were both born at the same exact time. I don't think I can explain your powers though," Tails said, scratching his head. He noticed Miranda staring at both him and Shadow with her piercing eyes, almost in a look of hate.

"Does that echidna Miranda hate me and Shadow or something? I don't like the look she's giving me," Tails whispered nervously.

"Tails, you're lucky you don't go to our school. She pretty much hates everyone and everything but her friends," Cynder gestured to her and Skyfire before adding "but she's just showing you mild dislike, and Shadow the hate look."

"Don't take it personally Tails, she's always been like that," Skyfire said, noticing Miranda had went outside.

_Outside_

"Why the heck are you giving me that look?" Shadow asked, his back to Miranda.

"Because I know how much you secretly hate humans. Though unlike you, I pretty much hate every being, human and Mobian," Miranda said flatly.

"So, Skyfire has elemental powers. Out of curiosity, do you or that cat have any?" Shadow asked.

"Cynder has the power to inflict bad luck on whatever she hits with pink energy, and I can become a cloud of black mist, or I can shoot it from my hand," Miranda answered.

"Any main reason you hate everyone and everything?" Shadow asked.

"If you've lived my life, you'd get a fair idea why," Miranda said before stepping forward to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the ocean before jumping.

"What in the...!?" Shadow yelled, running to the edge in time to hear a splash. "Why the heck did she jump?! Oh great, what the heck'll....?!" Shadow said, stopping in mid sentence when he felt a strange, creepy, depressing feeling around him. Looking down, he saw a black mist at his feet, leaping back when the dark form of Miranda rose from it.

"What...how...where...what in the name of Chaos did you do that for? How are you standing here right now?" Shadow asked, still shocked from the fact Miranda had jumped more than the fact she was right there in front of him.

"When I jumped I did what every echidna could do and glided to the cliff, then turned into the shadow mist and moved up to here," Miranda said, her voice sounding bored and almost emotionless.


	2. Not Afraid

"So, what is that gem Shadow found? It sure looks beautiful," Cynder asked as Tails hooked the gem to various wires. Skyfire had lost interest, not quite as enticed by the gem's flames, seeing as he could create his own.

"If you'll just give me a second, this machine will tell us what it is. I just hope that if it doesn't, Knuckles might be able to explain," Tails answered, watching numbers and letters flash across the screen before the machine completed the analysis. "Hmm, an elemental shard? What's that?" Tails asked himself, surprised the scanner could only find the name of it.

"Did you say...elemental shard?" Skyfire asked, taking an interest in the gem almost immediately.

"Yeah, why, do you think it could be important?" Tails asked. Skyfire hesitated saying anything, not sure if he should tell anyone else about his powers. To be fair, he let Tails do a bio scan, so it would be best to tell the kitsune everything.

"Maybe, though could we take the gem outside a second?" Skyfire asked.

"Um...okay, if you're sure," Tails said, disconnecting the wires before handing Skyfire the gem. The three of them went outside to see Shadow and Miranda standing there, Shadow looking stunned while Miranda looked like she always did, eyes piercing and giving constant venom tipped dagger death glares.

"If you'll all stand back," Skyfire said, holding the gem the same way Shadow held a chaos emerald before Chaos Control. The gem glowed brighter as Skyfire concentrated energy into his free hand before firing a blast of flames into the sky. The red/orange flames reached a mile high, everyone feeling the heat from where they were standing.

"Whoa, that was incredible! How did you manage such a fire blast," Tails said like an excited kid, taking the gem from Skyfire.

"A better question would be, how well you can defend against my robots?" a familiar voice said as the hovercraft flew up from behind the cliff, and the shout of "Eggman" erupted from Tails and Shadow.

"Now then, the fire ruby, if you please Tails," Eggman said as robots fell from the sky, surrounding the five of them. All guns were aimed and ready to fire.

"No, now you see how well I do _without_ that gem," Skyfire said, executing a spinning kick similar to Sonic that sent a wave of flames at the robots in front of him.

"So you want to fight eh? All robots, open fire!!" Eggman yelled, flying away to a safe distance.

As soon as the first shot was fired, Cynder and Skyfire had their wings out and took off into the sky, leaving Shadow and Miranda to fight on the ground.

"Tails, go get Knuckles and Rouge!" Shadow yelled, cursing under his breath when robots blocked the fox's route.

"Hang on," Miranda said flatly, grabbing Tails and disappearing into a black mist. As soon as she got past the robots, she re-emerged, leaving a slightly creeped out Tails before becoming a black mist again.

"I've been waiting to do this all day," Cynder said as she power dived towards the robots, firing waves of deep pink energy that caused most robots to short circuit, allowing Cynder to power dive slash them upon landing. Skyfire meanwhile was dealing heavy robot casualties, his lightning powers causing most to explode or short circuit.

"How many robots did he bring with him?" Shadow muttered to himself, dealing punches and kicks to any robot that came too close. When some of them snuck up behind him, they were all blown back by Miranda rising from her black mist. Now the hedgehog and echidna were fighting back to back almost like they were a well oiled combat team.

"Grr, that hedgehog's destroying my robots as if they were toys. How am I supposed to steal that ruby now that Tails' gotten away with it. All units RETREAT!" Eggman yelled, leaving the scene of destroyed robots followed by any robot who'd survived.

"Now that was fun. I mean, apart from the fact Egghead's evil, he knows how to keep a girl entertained," Cynder said, simply glad to have had a chance to use her powers. Skyfire and Cynder high-fived in the air while Miranda stood there almost like nothing had happened. Shadow simply stood there wondering if he'd ever understand them until Knuckles arrived, ready for a fight.

"So, where's Eggman? I wanna give him the old one-two knuckle sandwich," Knuckles said as Rouge and Tails caught up.

"Eggman fled like the coward he is after we totalled his robots," Miranda said, her voice causing Knuckles and Rouge to feel shivers. Knuckles kept glancing at Miranda mainly because of the fact she was an echidna.

"He came because he wanted this. He called it a fire ruby, and when Skyfire used it, he could send up a fire blast about a mile high," Tails said, gesturing to Skyfire when he said the hedgehog's name.

"So, you're the dragon hybrids. Name's Knuckles," Knuckles said, noticing Skyfire and Cynder for the first time.

"I'm Rouge, and if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have that gem in your hands," Rouge said, sensing Miranda glaring at her. When she looked at the black echidna, she saw her violet hue eyes burning through her black hair.

"So your name's Miranda. I didn't know there were other echidna's besides me. Could I possibly meet your parents, if that's okay?" Knuckles asked.

"You don't want to meet my father. He pretty much wants to kill me," Miranda said, looking down at her feet.

"Really? Why would he?" Knuckles asked, surprised. He jumped back when Miranda glared at him, eyes glowing and black mist around her hands.

"What makes you think I'd want to tell you?!" Miranda almost shouted before turning away and storming off, leaving everyone shocked, even Skyfire and Cynder.

"I just asked her a polite question. Why'd she explode like that?" Knuckles asked, clearly shocked.

"Believe me, you don't want to know why," Cynder said while Skyfire flew after Miranda.

_In the forest_

Miranda didn't have a clue where she was going, only that she wanted to be far away from everyone. She eventually found a large tree and, being an echidna, it was easy for her to climb it to find a hole large enough for her to sit in at the top. She hadn't noticed the hut at the bottom, or just didn't care it was there.

She just sat there, fading into a black mist when she heard the familiar beat of wings overhead. She didn't look up, only waited until she was sure Skyfire or whoever was looking for her had gone before she climbed down, greeted by a large purple cat. It was then that Miranda noticed the hut.

"Um...sorry...I didn't notice the hut..." Miranda stuttered, uneasy at having to confront the cat.

"You seem sad," the cat said plainly and slowly. Miranda stood there, not sure how to respond. She simply nodded slightly before being picked up in an almost bone-breaking bear hug.

"Cheer up. No reason to be sad today. It's a great day!" Big said as he danced, still holding Miranda in a hug. Froggy was also hopping around happily. Miranda was too busy trying to breathe to do anything. After a few minutes, Big stopped dancing and put Miranda down, sitting down and pull out his fishing rod.

"Um, that was...different. Aren't you scared of how I look?" Miranda asked, still not sure how to react.

"Should I be? Froggy likes you," Big said. As he said it, said frog jumped onto Miranda's head, making the gothic echidna giggle a little. She could tell Big wasn't the smartest cat around, but she could also tell Big really enjoyed the simple life and wasn't worried about what she looked like. For some reason, she couldn't be her usual self around him.

"No...I guess not. Do you think I could come fishing with you sometime?" Miranda asked, really wanting to get to know Big better.

"Sure new friend!" Big said excitedly.

"My name's Miranda," said echidna said, a small smile hidden behind her hair.

"I'm Big," Big said as Miranda left. As she walked through the jungle, Miranda thought about the short amount of time she'd spent with the huge cat. She hadn't expected Big to simply accept her like he did, and certainly didn't expect to have asked to go fishing with him. She hadn't felt this happy since the first time she'd met a certain hedgehog.

_Outside Tails' workshop_

Everyone was taking an interest in a different thing. Skyfire, Cynder and Tails were wondering where Miranda could be while Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles looked over the gem. Everyone jumped when a familiar creepy voice said "Miss me?"

"Miranda, where did you go, I flew over the jungle and couldn't find you," Skyfire said, trying not to sound too freaked out.

"I just needed time to think. I'm still the same old me," Miranda said before getting tackled to the ground in one of Cynder's hugs.

"As long as you're safe," the cat/dragon hybrid said, hugging Miranda like she was a long lost sister.

"And you won't be if you don't get off of me," Miranda said. Cynder got straight up, not sure if Miranda was joking or being serious. Skyfire couldn't help but chuckle silently at their "tender" moments. Tails also chuckled silently.

"So, who's going to keep this thing?" Knuckles asked, constantly dodging Rouge trying to steal the gem from his hand.

"I still need to run some tests on it. I'll keep it in my lab for now," Tails said, much to a certain bat's disappointment.

"Well, it's getting late. I think we should be heading back to Station Square before the last train leaves," Skyfire said, knowing this would apply to everyone but Tails and Knuckles.

"Sky guy's right, we should be going. See you around Knuckie," Rouge said, making Knuckles' muzzle turn a shade of pink. Shadow rolled his eyes as he left with the three teens with Rouge close behind.


End file.
